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t tv >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey, it's 26 minutes after the hour here on this tuesday morning. i was just thinking, what if december 7 1941, right when franklin roosevelt announced to the nation that the japanese had attacked us at pearl harbor, i wonder if the republican party

said i don't know. is he really telling the truth here. did they really attack us and why did they attack us? you don't ask those kind of questions. you fight back. in this case, mitt romney leading the republican party decided to make it all political and thanks to fox news, they're still trying to make it all political. and susan rice, not even nominated yet as secretary of state and she may not be. obama could decide to go with john kerry or jane armen or who knows who else, right? susan rice has to go up to the united states senate today and meet with -- she will, meet with john mccain and lindsey graham and a couple of other senators and try to explain herself. she shouldn't have to do that. i think it is embarrassing. kevin is calling from chicago. what do you think kevin? >> caller: hey, how do youing, bill? >> bill: good to hear from you. >> caller: if they were a legitimate news organization, wouldn't you go with the fact -- take whatever your guest says and you go with it.

but since everybody knows they're the mouthpiece of the republicans, i find it amusing that they're so inept they don't even see what their guest is going to say. it is like how dumb are they? it just reinforcing the bumper sticker on my car as i drive to work this morning. fox news, the more you watch the less you know. >> bill: i like that! send me one. where did you get it? kevin, it let me tell you doing a lot of tv, making a living at it. whenever you're a guest on program like that, they do what's called a preinterview. they don't tell you the questions they're going to ask but they're going to say here's the topic we're going to cover. now what do you think? some shows even tell you the questions they're going to ask. so they should know and usually do, ahead of time, what a guest is going to say. they should have known that tom ricks was not going to be nice to them. and boy, he proved it.

good for tom ricks! i love that guy! >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." about global warming. they just want to shut it down and go home. ed is calling from frederick maryland. what do you say, ed?

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: hey here we go. 33 minutes after the hour here on this tuesday morning. tuesday, november 27, the "full court press." good to see you today! a lot of comments about what is bill doing wearing that scarf. carol and i took a trip to turkey. carol spent half of her time on turkey on my laptop -- ipad,

actually answering e-mails and scarf orders that she's had from this scarf, hand woven by my wife. beautiful piece of art. hand woven by carol press. this is what she does. and our house today is like santa's workshop. i'm tellin' ya! she was answering orders that flooded in from the last time i wore a scarf on the air. so check out our web site. "bill press show." this is one i particularly like. she's got lots of different designs. she will be glad to hear from you. we'll call this cybertuesday. that's what i was looking for. hand woven carol press scarves. i assure you i've seen her weave every one of them. there you go. peter, what's up. we've been talking before of igor volsky is here. it is tuesdays with igor we call it from think progress. nice to see you. you guys have been putting out lots of good stuff we want to get into.

we've been talking so far this morning about tom ricks who went on fox news yesterday and when they tried to keep the benghazi story alive, he basically said -- this is political prop ban ga. took them apart. >> we're tweeting at bpshow. find us there. republican swine. at republican swine says watching fox spin benghazi is like watching a pornographyer try to develop a plot line. >> i like that. >> we're also chatting in the chat room. current.com/billpress. barbara in d.c. said fox got ricks rolled. isn't that an oh, sweet jesus moment. >> bill: it was. >> it really was. >> bill: i realized i think -- for the scarves that are at billpress show.com and you can see the designs by clicking on carol's link.

igor, is grover over? >> yeah, they're saying no to norquist. >> bill: some senators. >> to be fair, he makes this point, first of all nobody has voted for tax increase yet. and they haven't in a very long time. so he accused them of having impure thoughts on tv. those are his words not mine. but nobody has actually cast a vote. >> bill: a republican having impure thoughts? >> is that against the law? >> tony perkins is going to jump on this, too. so there's that. there is also -- these folks -- chambliss saxby chambliss were georgia, mccain, they flirted with this idea of increasing revenue in the past. this isn't too new for them. until we see actually policy proposals that differ from romney's plan of disclosing loopholes and finding revenue that way, we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions this is a

big shift in republican thinking. >> bill: they haven't voted for anything. they haven't broken the pledge. we may be open to new revenue but never no, no, no way. will we raise tax rates on the wealthiest of americans. basically, it is the same old romney b.s. that we're continuing. >> you gotta watch the media coverage of this. because if the media starts reporting this as republicans are walking away from norquist thus it is a concession, that's a big problem because the conventional wisdom hardened that -- >> bill: whoa, wait a minute. if? if? >> you have this growing idea of compromise that republicans are meeting democrats halfway and now it is democrats have to walk on the entitlement plank. >> bill: if you believe the media, right republicans have had a sex change operation right? and they haven't. they haven't. >> the policy is the same. all they want to do is they want to close the loopholes and use

that revenue for tax reform which means lowering tax rates not necessarily deficit reduction. it is the same policy romney had. it is where they were before the election. they gotta wake up and see the election, change things and they actually have to meet democrats somewhere in the middle. >> bill: i would hope. i would hope. new york times this morning, front page of the business section in terms of closing loopholes, romney was never specific about which one. new york times is saying that they know -- now we know one of the ones they're targeting. the headline is a tax break once sacred is now seen as vulnerable. what they're talking about is the mortgage interest deduction. there was no doubt it is on the table. it is one they're targeting rather than raise tax rates on the wealthy, they're going to either limit or get rid of the mortgage interest deduction. which is the most popular one. >> the most popular one.

politically difficult i think. that's really the problem with romney's entire approach that said we'll just create revenue by closing loopholes. you go down the list of the largest loopholes and pretty quickly, you get to the ones that target the middle class and that are going to hurt the middle class and hurt this recovery. are going to hurt consumer spending. so it is an article i would be surprised to see if they go along with that. i think it is a tough sell. >> bill: look, i could support some limits on -- for example mitt romney's got five homes right? right? okay. maybe he gets -- deduction on two out of five. but not all five. >> you limit the deduction for higher income earners. >> bill: i could see it for your primary residence. even those who are lucky enough to have a second home. middle-class families with a second home. particularly if you define middle class as up to $250,000 a year. but to take it away as they're threatening to do for all americans would be a blow.

>> you can do all of these things if you keep other ideas in the mix. if you tie it to raising marginal rates on the top 2%. you can come up with a package that folks can agree on from both sides. >> bill: okay. can you, bottom line, can you -- can we avoid the fiscal cliff. can we get ourselves back on the right track, if you will, without raising taxes -- without getting rid of the bush tax cuts for the wealthy? >> i think -- it doesn't add up. you get about $750 billion from loopholes. that doesn't get you near -- >> bill: bill clinton said in charlotte, it is arithmetic. >> it's math. >> bill: right. you mentioned -- i want to come back -- the other thing the republicans have put on the table, of course, is entitlement. they will only consider new revenue if democrats come forth

with entitlement reform. by entitlement reform, let's be honest. they mean getting rid of medicare, getting rid of medicaid. >> structural reforms. >> bill: and privatizing social security. >> it was good to hear yesterday jay carney the white house press secretary, i don't know if you were there. taking social security off the table. it's not a problem. it hasn't contributed to the deficit. that's off the table. they're open to medicare. they've been open to changing provider payments which there is a lot of waste there. encouraging pharmacy companies to give medicare and medicaid better rates. those are all positive reforms. those are big savings. so we can take and find savings from the provider side. it is when you go after the beneficiaries that you run into problems but look, you know, romney ran an entire campaign hitting democrats for cutting $716 billion out of medicare. now they turn -- republicans

backed that view we shouldn't touch medicare at all. now they turn around and say you have to cut medicare. it is as if the 716 debate we had for months didn't happen. >> bill: we know -- you know, the fact is the phrase entitlement reform, i wish democrats would stop using it because by republicans democrats mean one thing which is making the system more efficient, more cost-effective, delivering more benefits and getting rid of the waste like the $716 billion. when republicans say entitlement reform they mean paul ryan's voucher. >> that's right. >> gutting it, eliminating it. >> bill: making it voucher care, not medicare. i think democrats have to stop using entitlement reform. there is the question. just getting started with igor volsky from think progress. thinkprogress.org. where you can follow their good work on many, many, many different issues. we'll get into a couple of the others and take your calls at 1-866-55-press. get your comments also on

twitter. >> at bp show. hit us there. >> bill: peter has your back. we'll be right back here on today's "full court press." >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." now let's hear yours. >> politically direct means no bs, just tellling you what's going on in politics today. (vo) at the only online forum with a direct line to bill press. current.com/billpress

we have a big, big hour and the i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low

they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today... >> announcer: radio meets >> announcer: this is the full "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: 14 minutes now before the top of the hour. tuesday, november 27th. sam collender from corvis communications, economic expert will be joining us at the top of the next hour in studio. right now, we're visiting with igor volsky as we do every

tuesday morning. early every tuesday morning from think progress. thinkprogress.org. back to your calls and your comments and twit errand all of that. igor volsky in just a second here. in these hard economic times here's something you might want to consider. let's assume you don't win the lottery tomorrow night because i'm going to win it. still looking for some extra cash at the end of the month take a look at incomeathome.com. you've heard me talk about them before. they're america's leading business. doing business in over 80 countries today. they're offering you an opportunity you can take advantage of. no matter your age education or experience. you can literally earn money on your home computer from your own kitchen table 24/7. so if you're sick of living paycheck to paycheck and worried about job security or retirement, if your goal has been to earn some extra money from home, part-time or full time, here's your chance. incomeathome.com. they're even giving away $1,000 to somebody just for checking them out.

that somebody could be you. visit incomeathome.com. that's incomeathome.com. igor, we're following the twitter comments as well. peter, what have we got? >> at bp show on twitter barkway writes into us, we were talking about the mortgage interest deduction. he points out the mortgage interest deduction rarely applies to the rich anyway. it is -- whether it is their first or fifth home. they don't get mortgages. they just buy them outright. >> bill: good point. >> when you're talking about how the policies really hurt the middle class that's one of the examples. >> bill: imagine mitt romney taking 30 years like most of us do to pay off a house. >> that doesn't happen. and then on these ideas that the republicans are pushing out now recycled romney ideas kimrock says think we're all experiencing collective romnesia. brought that back. there you go. we're tweeting at bp show. >> bill: doris is calling from flint, michigan. hey, doris, good morning to you.

>> caller: hi, bill. hey, i'm enjoying this morning and particularly the comment about the mortgage. the rich do buy them right out. i think you know who jeffrey sax is, the economist. >> bill: yes. >> caller: i heard him a few years ago when he came to mish. i was impressed with his concern about the world and a caring person and he was just on msnbc on joe scarborough, they were talking about the fiscal cliff. i thought it was really interesting. joe was like what about cuts. where are we going to cut. there are two things he said and i respect him very much. he said number one the pentagon. the fraud, the excess, the waste. that has got to come down. he said what else? what else are we going to cut? he said the healthcare. we have to improve healthcare and the whole issue is if you get the universal healthcare, then you've avoided this medicaid medicare, you know, whatever and it is more efficient because you're not

sending money -- spending money for profit. you're doing it for the v.a. and for everybody. >> bill: i forget, doris igor, jump in here, too i forget the exact number but the congressional budget office proved that -- you're right. single payer would be even more efficient but we're not going to go there because we didn't. but obama care would save hundreds of millions -- hundreds of billions of dollars in delivery of healthcare costs by making it more efficient and bringing more people into the system and therefore have more capacity to deliver. >> you lower the rate of growth which is the key to lowering cost and the irony is you have boehner and cantor saying let's put obama care on the table in these negotiations when this is the law that reduces costs and reduces the deficit. >> bill: well look, hey doris, thanks so much for the call. they will use every opportunity to try to keep -- to try to keep obama care as part of the

conversation then has nothing to do at all with this debt resolution. just like they try to keep social security in the equation. harry reid has said no, social security won't be part of these negotiations. it should not be part of the negotiations. but isn't the essence of the problem here which you pointed out, got your finger on a little earlier, in our conversation, that there was an election -- >> there was. i remember it. >> bill: they forgot it. they seem to have forgotten it. they put out all of these bad ideas, stale ideas dangerous ideas and they lost. >> this was really an election on those ideas. >> bill: exactly. >> romney made the case. you have a choice between going down my road or obama's road and the country supported obama's road as he said even if folks didn't vote for him chose his road in terms of increasing marginal tax rates on the richest americans getting more revenue. not turning medicare into a voucher system. ryan used to say when they first selected him let's have this

medicare debate because this is a debate we can win. guess what, guys. you lost it and you can't have the policies you wanted now after you have. >> bill: right. again, i come back to the media. come on, we heard all of this before. you made the same arguments you lost. move on. >> compromise here. >> bill: right. we're going to talk more fiscal cliff with stan collender in the next hour. before i let you go, igor, i have to ask you. you also have reported on think progress, you and i have talked about all of these efforts of voter suppression during the election. and the republicans always claimed because there was so much fraud and abuse everywhere that we had to make -- do all of this stuff like voter i.d.s and shortening for early voting and all of that. now in florida we find out what it was really all about. >> shocking. you find out florida officials -- you have charlie crist, another florida official and two other current members of

the g.o.p. anonymously telling the post, collaborating the story what we've known for quite some time that the purpose of narrowing the early vote, of making it difficult to register, of having those long, long, long lines by narrowing the hours you have to vote was to make sure that democratic voters, minority voters, young people, college students, that obama voting block, that they don't turn out and vote. that was the express purpose of those laws. that's why when rick scott the governor, when he came into office, it was the first thing he did. remember those -- that was the goal of suppressing the vote and thankfully they failed. new effort in some states but in florida, that failed. it went for obama. we gotta be vigilant because every two years, there is another opportunity for them to narrow that electorate to make sure the people that they don't want to vote, that they stay at home. >> bill: so now we know, republicans have finally

admitted in florida what that was all about as they were trying to steal the election. suppress the vote. prevent democrats from voting. steal the election. and they failed. but you know what? they're not going to give up. in florida and in other states. we gotta be on top of that for sure. great, great work as always for think progress. igor volsky, deputy editor. thanks for coming in this morning. thank you. >> bill: we'll be right back and take a look at some of the e-mails flowing in already this morning here on today's "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." you hang up first. [ female announcer ] in just 60 seconds, you've got snack-defying, satisfying totino's pizza rolls. [ ringing ] it's on. let's roll.

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en (vo) always outspoken, now unleashed, joy behar. >> on my next show, debbie mazar and gabriel corcos talk tuskin cooking. and there better be snacks, just sayin'. >> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any

show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: hey, lots of comments and responses to our question, we asked at the very top of the hour. >> bill: okay. hey, very good idea here. he says think of all of the good that grover norquist could do if he got pledges from ceos instead of members of congress. plen, for example, to pay all of their employees a living wage. they would pledge to make their products in the united states. pledge not to hire illegal aliens. only those with guest worker status. a pledge not to bankrupt their companies in favor of huge salary increases and compensation packages for the top brass. a pledge to accept paying higher taxes than they already do. but obviously grover ain't going to do that because we can get someone like warren buffett to be -- perhaps we can get somebody like warren buffett to be the new anti-grover norquist

guy. let's make a pledge to warren buffett. how about that one. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

>> bill: hey, good morning everybody. welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv. this tuesday morning. november 27. so good to see you. thank you for joining us here on the "full court press." as we tackle the big stories of the day. tell you what's going on here in our nation's capital. around the country around the globe and take your calls, of course. you're part of the conversation. we'll hear from you. how about this. with less than a month since

president obama's re-election people are already talking about 2016 and here's the good news. newt gingrich yesterday said that he will seriously consider running again. keep your fingers crossed. i mean he made such a total ass of himself this time around, we can only hope that he does it all over again. to the moon! with newt! all right. that's just one of the many topics we'll be covering here on today's "full court press." but first, we start out with the latest. today's current news update from lisa ferguson out in los angeles. hi lisa. good morning. >> hey bill. good morning everyone. congress gets back to work this week but top leaders still have no meetings scheduled with the white house to discuss the upcoming fiscal cliff. president obama met with the heads of both the house and the senate before the thanksgiving recess. and the group called for a second meeting this week. a senate democratic aide said talks though in the last week have not been very productive.

the fact that this second meeting has not been scheduled yet could be a sign that congress is not making as much progress as it had hoped. we are hearing some republican lawmakers saying they are willing to break with grover norquist's pledge to never raise tax revenue. but they're still talking more about capping deductions and closing loopholes rather than raising actual tax rates. in order to reach a compromise, republicans will need to agree to some form of increased tax revenue and to convince them to do that, the democrats will likely have to accept some deep cuts to entitlement programs like medicare and medicaid. there are just 35 days left until the end of the year but top lawmakers say they are still confident they can reach a compromise. democrats are saying the upcoming tax hikes and spending cuts are not really a fiscal cliff at all. but actually more of a fiscal slope. that is because if congress cannot reach a compromise, the president still has the authority to push back some of

those big changes. and lawmakers say the markets should easily recover even if no deal is reached until early next year. more bill next. stay with us. going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. [ piano plays ] troy polamalu's going deeper. ♪ ♪ and so is head & shoulders deep clean. [ male announcer ] with 7 benefits it goes deep to remove grease, gunk and flakes. deep. like me. [ male announcer ] head & shoulders deep clean for men. ♪ ♪

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>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: powerball $425 million. get your ticket! all you need is a dollar and a dream. i'm going to win so -- don't even bother. hey, hello everybody. what do you say? tuesday, november 27. good to see you today. this is the "full court press." welcome to the program here on current tv. and on your local progressive talk radio station.

good to have you with us. whether you're driving to work or just getting up and around or in the gym or wherever this morning. thanks for joining us and we look forward to hearing from you. your take on the big stories of the day. we'll tell you what's going on. you tell us what it means to you. give us a call at 1-866-55-press go to join us on twitter or facebook. twitter at bpshow. facebook facebook.com/billpressshow. and in the chat room you have a chance to talk about the issues with other viewers and listeners this morning. get there for the current.com follow the click to the chat room and you are in. you are a member of the team. you get a chance to throw your comments and questions right to our guest here at the top of the hour. stan collender good friend of the program and a frequent guest when we talk about economic issues. particularly. from corvis communications. stan, always good to see you. >> thank you. i have to tell you that is a sharp scarf. >> bill: isn't it? >> pretty impressive. >> bill: more impressive when

you know it was hand woven by my wife, carol press. >> how do i get one? >> bill: oh, my god. >> did you coach him? >> bill: i'm the male model. he's the male pimp. [ laughter ] >> thank you. that's just what i wanted to be called first thing in the morning. >> bill: you go to our web site billpressshow.com and you follow the click to carol press' web site. for this hour, i changed. beautiful gray, rayon chenille. today is officially -- i wrote it down, peter. >> it is giving tuesday. >> bill: giving tuesday. so if you're looking for a good gift to give for the holiday -- >> you're stretching the meaning out just a little bit. [ laughter ] >> bill: all right. anyhow, stan is with us as well as the regular team. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> good morning. >> bill: phil backert has the phones and cyprian bowlding has

the video camera this morning. tom ricks, great writer, great journalist, basically a war correspondent, author of this new book "the gamble" won the pulitzer prize for his first book "the fiasco," was invited on fox news to talk about benghazi. he started out by saying i think this whole thing has been hyped by fox news. jon scott the anchor was offended by the fact he would suggest that fox news, an ambassador was killed. how can you mean hyping it. here's how that exchange goes. listen to tom ricks flatten fox news. >> when you have four people dead, including the first u.n. ambas -- u.s. ambassador in more than 30 years, how do you call that hype? >> how many security contractors died in iraq? do you know? >> i don't. >> no. nobody does because nobody cared. we know that several hundred died but there was never an official count done of security contractors in iraq. so when i see this focus on what was essentially a small fire

fight, i think number one -- i've covered a lot of fire fights, it is impossible to figure out what happens in them sometimes and second, i think that the emphasis on benghazi has been political partly because fox was operating as a wing of the republican party. >> all right, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> bill: let's play it again. he says you're welcome. >> never ask a question you don't know the answer to. >> bill: you're welcome. get outta here! cut his mic. apparently he reported that the producer told him after the interview -- after they pulled the plug, the producer said you were very rude. he wasn't rude. he was polite. >> polite way to tell them they're full of crap. >> you ask me a question, you don't want an answer. if it is not less than totally referential -- >> bill: i don't know how he got on fox news. >> who was his agent and how did the p.r. person get him on

there? that was impressive. >> bill: fox news didn't do their homework. >> how would you like to be the producer who booked him? >> oops! >> bill: all right. got lots to talk about with stan collender here. more about the fiscal cliff. rebecca kaplan from "national journal" will be along a little bit later and brad woodhouse who has a shiny head looks just like stan collender -- >> hey hey! >> bill: brad woodhouse communications director for the dnc shaved his head as part of a bet. he will be in studio next hour. >> that's what happened to you stan. >> i lost a bet with god. i said you know, if you give me hair, i will wear it. he said no, not happening. >> bill: we'll see how brad looks. let's see if he looks as sharp as stan collender here. we'll be right back but first. >> this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news, how about this headline. porn stores have this more

together than one might think. a new study done by shippensburg university in texas. women's university find that female porn actors are more religious and have a higher self-esteem than other women. the study concluded these women do not fit the damaged goods hypothesis and have great social support and positive feelings but the study did find that porn actors use more drugs but they learned from those experiences. >> people who do the polls for the republicans. >> i knew that they were more religious. they're always shouting oh, god. >> they clearly -- >> oh, god stan. >> former baseball star is heading to the kitchen. nolan ryan who played for the mets and angels for years is publishing a cookbook. 65-year-old who is currently the president and ceo of the texas rangers is also a long-time cattle rancher so the book will be all about beef. titled the nolan ryan beef

cookbook. he is also working a few baseball stories along with the recipe. >> bill: put that on my christmas list. how did get a job working on that survey? >> yeah, right. >> i want to know how they developed the samples. >> lots of worry on facebook yesterday when news about new copyright guidelines went viral. users were reposting texts in their status updates and said if they didn't post it, anything they did on facebook wouldn't be protected. it was a complete hoax. facebook said its guidelines are clear. they didn't change anything in the recent weeks. people just fell for it. >> bill: all right dan, thank you. dan, the president is meeting with small business leaders today. meeting some ceos. the representatives from the chamber of commerce are meeting with the white house chief staff. john boehner is having some meetings with business leaders. meanwhile, the staff of the senate and the house and the white house are all meeting -- this purpose of avoiding the fiscal cliff which is now 35

days off or something. so first of all, two questions. how serious is it and what do you think is going to happen? >> it is potentially very serious that is if we hit the fiscal cliff and go over it and it stays in place. the deficit falls by $600 billion, the largest one-year reduction in history but will throw the economy back into a recession. unemployment will go from 7.9% currently to over 9%. i don't think that's going to happen. i do think we'll go over the cliff, not have a deal before it happens. i think it will be fixed shortly after this -- after they storm the castle with pitch forks and torches but this is potentially the worst fiscal policy since the end of the great depression when we went into an austerity program too early and threw the economy back into a recession back in the '30s. so this is serious stuff. but notice everything we just talked about the meetings each one is having. notice who's not having a meeting. the president is not having a meeting with john boehner.

the congressional leaders aren't coming to the white house. there will be no direct negotiations this week. there's not -- if there is going to be a deal here, it won't be done until the middle to the end of december. all of this so far is just kabuki theatre. >> bill: the white house may not be admitting this but they realize that all the meetings that the president has with john boehner and eric cantor and the rest of them the last time, we had this whole crisis over the debt ceiling amounted to nothing because they stabbed him in the back, right? so i think they figure why waste time meeting with john boehner again. they're right, aren't they? >> that's exactly right. unlike the situation in 1995 and 1996 when it was gingrich versus clinton, he could cut a deal and go to the caucus and say this is what we're doing. if you don't like it, get a new speaker. if boehner did that, they would get a new speaker. he's not in the same position. truth is neither is the president with the democratic caucus. he can't dictate terms here. so there is a lot of what has to happen in terms of building

public support for what the president wants to do. unlike what he did last time with the negotiations, where he met in private and didn't build a lot of support the president is bringing a lot of people into the white house building support, showing that there's a lot of interest in what the president wants to do and putting a lot of pressure on republicans. it is a very interesting change of strategy. it shows the administration has learned a great deal over the last couple of years. >> bill: all right now the media is making a big deal of the fact that republicans one after the other saxby chambliss, lindsey graham, bob corker, peter king, they're willing to break the grover norquist pledge and consider new revenue. is this really anything new? >> no. all right. next question? first of all they're not saying anything new first of all. they're not saying we're willing to talk about rates --

>> bill: in fact they're saying they'll vote against rates -- getting rid of the bush tax cuts. >> this is not a change in policy at all. that's number one. number two these are -- senate republicans who don't have a lot of influence in this particular subject area. they're not the most -- they're not the biggest players. third, they're senate republicans. we need house republicans to change their minds. so i said this in my blog yesterday, this is not as significant as it seems and all of those who made such a big deal about it over the weekend are missing the key point. it is not a change in policy and two, look who it is. it is not that important. when i see some tea party switching and eric cantor saying we need some rate change, then you'll know something serious has changed. >> bill: stan's blog is capital gains and games.com. >> thank you. it is a great scarf you're wearing. [ laughter ] >> bill: so then republicans

also say again we're open to new revenue but oh, no way are we going to get rid of the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest of americans. also we're open to new revenue as long as democrats agree to entitlement reform. this is what mitt romney was saying. what they call entitlement reform is voucher care. >> or just cuts in medicare and medicaid and social security and the president's already said no, no way no how ain't gonna happen. the irony here is mitch mcconnell over the next 24 hours said the president has to go first. the president's already gone first. this is what i want to do. i want to raise the rates. >> bill: the american people went first. >> right. before even the president did. absolutely. so you know, this is -- nothing has changed since election day as far as the fiscal cliff is concerned except that we're 15 days closer to it happening. >> bill: the white house said if -- one thing the president said is look, there is one easy thing we can do. maybe we can't resolve all of the issues but there is a bill that's passed the senate.

that gives the tax break up to $250,000 a year for everybody. >> for everybody. >> bill: for the first $250,000 of income. that's past the senate. if the house passed that. if the house doesn't pass that, it will cost -- take $200 billion out of the u.s. economy. $200 billion basically out of middle class american's pockets. >> that's the reason why last week you had the ceos of several very consumer-oriented companies. cvs say you have to stop this from happening because that's money out of the hands of their customers. >> bill: that's four times the amount of money that americans spent on black friday. for example. >> no, no. as i said to begin with, this is not an insignificant change. this would be a disastrous fiscal policy if it happens and stays in effect which is why the president doesn't want it to happen. >> bill: we're in the middle of the negotiations right now. what is the way out?

more with stan collender. your calls welcome. it is capital gains and games.com. this is the "full court press" on tuesday, november 27th. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show" now on current tv. people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot.

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about telling them, you're put on this planet for something more. i want this show to have an impact beyond just informing. an impact that gets people to take action themselves. as a human being, that's really important. this is not just a spectator sport. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 24 minutes after the hour. rebecca kaplan from the "national journal" joins us in the next segment. right now we're visiting with stan collender author of the

blog capital gains and games.com. talking about the fiscal cliff and how to avoid it. and the negotiations now underway. what's up? >> we're tweeting at bp show at bp show. you can find us there. we've been getting a lot of comments on twitter from people saying forget it. let's just go over the if is cal cliff. it is -- let's go over the fiscal cliff. here's one comment that encapsulates what a lot are saying. we must go off the cliff. it is the only way we'll get real cuts to out-of-control military spending and taxes raised on the rich. i'm throwing it out there for you two big brains to discuss. >> unfortunately, i can understand the sentiment but it is probably not right. going off a cliff is the worst fiscal policy we could do. the economy is not in a position right now where it can handle that big of a reduction. should we do those things? that is cut military spending?

but it's gotta be done in the proper context at the right time. more gradually. so you know, it's going over the cliff would accomplish those things but it would also increase tax on millions of middle class americans a lot of small businesses. you know. and it would result in a lot of economic pain and hardship that we just don't need. >> bill: at the end of the day, what would be the best deal -- what's the best deal obama could get? not politically but if republicans were willing to compromise, what would the best deal that they could fashion look like? >> what you want in general here is to delay the spending cuts and tax increases in general. there are some that you should do immediately. but you want to do this as i just said until a time when the economy is capable -- when the private sector is not hoarding cash. and trade is helping out. >> bill: would be a combination of cuts. >> oh, yeah. a combination of cuts and revenue increases.

>> absolutely. >> bill: can you do it without ending the bush tax cuts for the wealthy? >> you probably shouldn't. those are things that probably -- >> bill: because that's a lot of cash. >> look, it is not -- the bush tax cuts to the wealthy are not going to balance the budget all by themselves. you almost certainly have to go there, right? otherwise, you know, that's not going -- it is going to have to be a combination of revenues and some spending changes and some things that -- but again the key thing here is not that you shouldn't be -- you should do it when the economy is in the right economic context. >> bill: let's say hello to paul up in buffalo new york. good morning. >> caller: hey, guide morning. >> bill: thanks for your call. what's your point? >> i have a question for stan. there is actually -- there has actually been an i.r.s. -- had a private ruling where you can make voluntary contributions to pay down the federal debt and

they're tax tax-deductible. why hasn't there been any talk about this? first question. and number two is why isn't there some sort of movement. today is giving day -- where you have people like warren buffett, the president himself -- >> bill: i'm going to interrupt you so that stan has a chance to answer before we're out of time. >> that's nothing new. people have always been able to make voluntary contributions and pay to reduce the debt or to increase revenues actually. but it's very few people actually take advantage of it. they have to be forced to do it through law changes. that's why they don't talk about it. >> bill: somebody like mitt romney led the way -- >> oh, sure. >> bill: maybe some others would follow. >> maybe if he was tithing to the federal government oz opposed to -- as opposed to somewhere else. >> bill: stan collender, you can follow him full time on capital gains and games.com.

>> and the budget guy on twitter. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: it is 33 minutes after the hour now here on the "full court press" this tuesday morning, november 27. members of the house and the senate come back to town today after their thanksgiving break and jump right into the negotiations. on how to avoid the fiscal cliff. some important meetings taking place at the white house today and on the hill. with business leaders to get their take on the business community, seems to be a little

split on this issue as to -- how much they will support getting rid of the bush tax cuts on the wealthiest of americans. and how much they will support any other increases in revenue particularly a lot of attention being paid to the mortgage interest deduction. with all of the negotiations taking place who is speaking for the republican party. rebecca kaplan has been covering that for the "national journal." political reporter for the "national journal." rebecca has been our guest several times during the campaign where she jumped from -- those outstanding candidates rick perry to rick santorum to paul ryan. at least paul ryan ended up on the ticket. hey, rebecca nice to see you. >>nice to be here. >> bill: give us a call at 1-866-55-press. peter ogborn again is following your comments on twitter and facebook and in the chat room. so let me ask you first of all

who does speak for the republican party in these negotiations? is it grover norquist or is it john boehner or who is it? >> i think right now the republicans are putting forward a unified front in saying house speaker john bainer is the one speaking for them in negotiations. now, it is important to remember that aside from this one meeting between obama and the top congressional leaders before thanksgiving -- >> bill: right friday -- >> everything is down at the staff level. the principals aren't meeting yet. it is up to the staff to hammer out framework before anyone puts numbers on the table. >> bill: boehner as speaker isn't going to handle all of this himself. he'll delegate the responsibility to -- >> they haven't really shaped who is going to take the lead on negotiating yet. if we're going to have a working group like we did with the debt ceiling but you do have the top republicans including paul ryan from the budget committee. you'll have dave camp from ways and means and fred upton are all sitting in on the daily

leadership meetings so they're all on the same page as far as the fiscal cliff goes. >> bill: for ryan, you've been writing about this, for ryan, this is a chance to maybe show some leadership and maybe pull off a deal. how does he approach it? we know what a hard liner he is, given the two budgets that he put forward and the two budgets that the house republicans all voted for. >> ryan's got two big choices here. he has typically been an ideological leader within the party for the last couple of years offering the budgets so he can really stick to his principles here. resist any tax increases and we're talking about rates because he has gotten behind boehner's increases to revenue. but a major point of contention for him the big thing he wants to see is entitlement reform. long-term structural reforms that are going to bring down what entitlements are costing this country every year. that's going to be his sort of ideological ground but if he's able to make a lot of progress

on that issue, we could see him emerging as more of a deal maker, looking for compromise in these talks, trying to cut a deal with democrats. now his past history doesn't necessarily suggest that's the way he's going to go but it is an option and looking like a deal maker like someone who can get things done is something that could help him in a general election situation if he decides to run in 2016. >> bill: suggesting that paul ryan -- with all due respect suggesting that paul ryan would be one to compromise, right it is sort of like -- i don't know, suggesting that he become a democrat. it is just as likely, isn't it? he's never been known. what has he ever compromised on in the past? >> not necessarily compromise on a particular issue. he has worked with democrats in the past. he worked with ron widen oregon senator, on his most recent version of medicare reform which was this sort of partial -- of the program but retaining the traditional option. he's done some mind melding with

the clinton administration but none of these things went into legislation that got passed so he doesn't have a record that says i've gotten bipartisan legislation passed on a major scale. >> bill: when paul ryan talks about -- i hate this phrase -- we keep knocking it here on the show. yesterday and today -- when he talks about entitlement reform, we have seen, in his budget what he means when it comes to medicare. which is basically end medicare as we know it. to use the phrase. turn it into voucher care. right? so entitlement reform for him is not improving the system. it is replacing it with a different system altogether. >> i'm sure he would say it is improving the system. it is a premium support system where seniors are given a set amount that they can use to buy -- >> bill: which is not enough to buy. i think that's been proven. >> studies have shown that the amount that they're given by the government probably won't cover entirely the cost of medicare. >> bill: he would end medicare and medicaid in effect, too, by

turning it over to the states then the states can either -- if they have enough money keep it going and if they don't which they won't end it or severely limit it. >> he has talked about -- on medicare, the most recent version of the ryan plan we've seen does retain traditional medicare as an option for seniors. that was a big difference between the first one he put out in the first budget after republicans took back the house. it was a complete premium support system. now he keeps the traditional medicare. >> bill: overall i guess the question is given that these issues were front and center -- this was an election that was held, you know, not over the war in iraq, right. it was not really held over illegal immigration. central issue was this -- what to do about this economic crisis facing -- and fiscal crisis facing this nation. president obama put forward his plan and mitt romney put forward his plan which was the paul ryan plan and the american people made a clear choice here.

given that, what do you hear about republicans willingness to come to the table in the spirit of compromise? >> well, from what we've heard from boehner and the top republicans, they recognize that president obama won the election. he won on a platform of raising taxes on wealthier americans and they recognize that there's probably going to be some need to increase revenue. now they like to see that done through tax reform. interestingly, if you talk to republicans, they did not see the election as necessarily a referendum on paul ryan's plans for medicare, for instance. and there are polling numbers that show mitt romney gained a lot of ground in terms of whether he was trusted to handle medicare relative to president obama who enjoyed a large lead -- >> bill: he still lost. >> that's true. but i was on the campaign trail. i was there when protestors, the first day ryan campaigned solo, came up and were heckling him through the entire speech in des moines. and i thought is this going to be what the rest of the campaign looks like?

medicare and opposition to the medicare plan while it certainly existed, did not become a central focus of the campaign. that is what gives republicans hope they can achieve long-term entitlement reform in these negotiations. >> bill: they're just kidding themselves. they're blowing smoke. by the way a factoid i picked up at dinner with some friends obama's lead -- they're still counting votes in some states. there are still votes coming in. obama's lead keeps increasing. it is a margin of 3.5% over mitt romney which is pretty significant particularly in the way the country is split right now. rebecca, again your calls welcome at 1-866-55-press. i guess the question is are republicans really willing to compromise? can we expect that from them? i don't. and how about paul ryan himself. is he the one who might be able to broker a deal given he's such a hard liner. rebecca, let's say hello to joey from chicago. joey, how you doing?

>> caller: wrong wrong! we won this election on taxes period. that's how we won this election. if we use any any republican ideas, nobody will come out in two years and take over the house of representatives. obama's gotta stick to it! it's going to have to go over the cliff because republicans aren't going to give in. so we have to stay strong and in two years, we blame it on them and we take over the house of representatives. do not give in or the democrats won't show up next time. >> bill: all right. we got it, joey. that is a message you hear from a lot of democrats which is we won the election. president obama made it very clear. on the tax cuts from the bush tax cuts, there's no doubt. he said no way no how. if you want those tax cuts to go away, you think they've been there long enough, you vote for me. if you want them to continue you vote for romney. case closed, right? >> absolutely. >> bill: you think president obama will stick to that? >> i think that republicans are certainly going to test his

willingness and how much he can. i think he did win the election and that was a central part of his platform. and that as he said is the bottom line. of course we -- we've seen him say before it was the bottom line and they extended the rates. >> bill: if i was at his news conference just before thanksgiving and that week before thanksgiving and he made it very clear he said again no way. you can count on it. you can count on it. >> he did. >> i will veto anything that does not include getting rid of the bush tax cuts. rebecca kaplan from the "national journal" our guest here. join the conversation. 1-866-55-press. what do you think? rep capes have seen the light do. they accept the results of this election and are they willing to compromise and say all right president obama, you put it out to the american people, they decided. so let's move on. 1-866-55-press. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on

current tv. and gabriel corcos talk tuskin cooking. and there better be snacks, just sayin'.

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour here on the "full court press." rebecca kaplan from "national journal" in studio with us. we're talking about the likelihood republicans will see the light and compromise and come to an agreement before the end of the year to avoid going off the fiscal cliff. back to your calls at 1-866-55-press. and your comments on a social

network. but first, this month of november getting toward the end of it here, earlier in the month, of course, celebrating and marking veterans day where we learned and heard some wonderful stories about some of our american heroes who fought in world war ii and vietnam and iraq and afghanistan and other american wars. and you know, there could be one of those military heroes in your own family you don't know about. maybe you haven't heard his or her story. ancestry.com can help you find out. they have an extensive collection of military records from the civil war to world war i, world war ii and even marine corps muster rolls dating back to 1798. i've been checking ancestry.com working on my family roots. able to trace them back to latvia. and i invite you to do the same and they've made it easier for you by giving you two full weeks at tryancestry.com. so join the fun.

try ancestry.com is where you go to see what you can discover with the two free weeks and uncover perhaps a military hero in your own family. visit tryancestry.com. peter, what's up on twitter? >> you can join the conversation on twitter. we're tweeting at bp show at bp show. one person writing in says as a democrat, i'm tired of being bullied and held hostage by the g.o.p. i stand with senator patty murray. let's go over the fiscal people. a lot of people saying let's go. we'll work it out later. >> bill: there is a theory that it has -- it has to get worse before it gets better. people are not taking it seriously enough. so you go over the cliff and then you come back in january with a new congress and some new democrats in the senate and you say all right, you see how bad it is? we told you how bad it is. now let's get serious and fix

it. >> jr jacobs says you acts is if the cliff is indistant. it isn't a cliff. it is a slope that cuts gradually. let the fiscal cliff come and crystal sue says pay congress middle class wages make them pay for their own insurance they will be ready to deal then. >> bill: amen to that. i have to tell you if i were obama, i would let the country go over the cliff rather than extend the bush tax cuts for another two years. if he had to make -- if it comes down to that choice, the best thing they can get out of this congress is continuing those bush tax cuts, i think it is no way, no how. boom. >> start rolling down the fiscal slope. >> bill: right. start rolling down the fiscal slope. >> there is a lot of confidence in that assertion though that assumes -- and the path has shown the g.o.p. has gotten blamed in situations like the debt ceiling last summer. a lot of confidence in that that the blame goes to the house g.o.p. for not raising those

rates. now if the blame -- even if obama winds up getting or the blame -- i don't know if it that's a good strategy. >> bill: he doesn't have to worry. do the right thing. he won. he won the election. he doesn't have to run ever again. ever ever, ever for anything. my advice would be do the right thing. dan's in chantilly virginia. hey, dan, good morning. >> hey bill. your guest there said something very important. that got missed. when i was looking at the end of the election, when that $716 billion lie that romney was telling, we let that pass. romney had a is a-point -- had a 15-pointed-point advantage when it said who is going to be better for medicare. remember in the republican's world, the only good a democratic president is for is to do the real hard things. to attack the sacred cow. so when romney started basically endorsing obama for the last

month, they knew the margins. they knew -- so this is a class divide. 55 and up. they think the republicans are positioned to win this battle. that's why entitlements are on the table. you see democratic senators coming out saying we've got to do entitlements. >> bill: no. listen. there's no doubt about it. i think too many democrats -- dan, appreciate the call as always, fall into that trap. it is interesting rebecca that $716 billion. we're forgetting about that. they were accusing -- romney was accusing president obama falsely, we know of cutting $716 billion out of benefits. >> out of medicare. >> bill: medicare benefits. now by calling for entitlement reform, they're actually calling for more cuts in medicare benefits. right? >> yes. this was the republican strategy. they had a strategy on medicare. they knew, i think that paul ryan's position on medicare was potentially a liability for them. they went into this with a strategy. it quickly turned from they were

not going to play defense on ryan's budget. instead, they were going to talk about the cuts to providers that president obama put in his budget. >> bill: the same cuts that paul ryan had put in his budget. >> paul ryan used in his baseline as well. yes, they were in paul ryan's budget as well. so for the president used those -- counted those cuts in cost savings for obama care so you know, that was the way the republicans went at this. they were going to make this an issue where they went on the attack. >> bill: so before we let you go, do you think we're going to go over the fiscal cliff or not? 35 days left. >> oh. i'm not in the predictions game. >> bill: what's your gut tell you? >> my gut tells me i think they work something out. >> bill: really? >> yeah. >> bill: keep hope alive. i'm not that hopeful. i've got my parachute on. i'm ready. rebecca kaplan, great to see you. thanks for coming in.

nationaljournal.com where you can follow rebecca's work and work of other good friends at "national journal" including major garrett of course. back to the white house. i'll be back and tell what you president obama is up to today. busy schedule at the white house. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show."

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current tv, it's been all building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: they have their weekly lunch at noon. at 3:40 this afternoon the president and vice president will meet with the president-elect of mexico, enrique pena nieto recently elected before he is even sworn in. he will be here at the white house today. and then at 4:30 this afternoon the president and the vice president meets with secretary of defense leon panetta for their weekly meeting. our briefing with jay carney at 12:30 today at the white house. brad woodhouse newly head-shaven joins us in the next

hour. can't wait for that. right? so this bet that he had was a bet -- an election bet with the communications director of the republican national committee. >> yep. >> bill: brad won the debate. >> yes. he won the bet. >> bill: won the bet rather. so the other guy had to shave his head. brad said well if we raise some money for one of our favorite charities, i'll shave my head as well. so it was a good -- >> bipartisan fund-raiser. >> bill: they raised about $12,000 for this kid's charity so brad did shay his head. both of them did it on abc's "this week" with george stephanopoulos sunday morning. two days later brad otherwise known as bald woodhouse for now will be here in our studio in the next hour. and we'll see probably a little peach fuzz on that bald dome.

>> then you can run it for good luck.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning everybody! welcome to the "full court press." this tuesday morning. november 27. great to see you today. thank you so much for joining us here as we come to you live from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill. waiting for the house and the senate to come back into session today. the leadership has been here. all of the members come in today. they jump right into negotiations to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. here on the "full court press," we'll bring you up to date not

only on what's happening in washington, d.c. but the latest from egypt. the latest from syria. the latest around the country and then we'll give you a chance to sound off. take your calls at 1-866-55-press. the big news tomorrow, powerball, $425 million. that big chunk of change after taxes could be yours in this record-making powerball. i know the chances are slim but i'm going to buy my ticket because all you need is a dollar and a dream. we'll get right into that and a whole lot more here. but first, standing by with today's current news update, lisa ferguson in los angeles. hi lisa. good morning. >> hey bill. good morning everyone. the white house is announcing this morning that the president will speak in hatfield, pennsylvania on friday. taking his case over the fiscal cliff to the road. the president will also meet with business leaders today and tomorrow plus tomorrow he is hosting an event at the white house to talk about middle-class families impacted by the fiscal cliff. as you know, the bush era tax

cuts are set to expire at the end of the year. obama campaigned on letting those expire but he extended them in 2010 and he wants to extend them again now for families making less than $250,000 a year. progressives and maybe in the mainstream media say it is an example of how obama caved on taxes. but david corn has an article in mother jones saying that is the no the case. according to corn, obama did not surrender at all in 2010. what he actually did was use the chance to push through a second stimulus that otherwise would have never made it past senate republicans. if you remember, the package to extend the tax cuts also included a payroll tax break a child tax credit and other stimulus measures amounting to $238 billion. democrats failed as they do so many times was in messaging and communicating the fact that they actually caught the better end of the deal.

we'll post a link to that article in our chat room to check it out. we'll have more bill for you after the break. stay with us. you're about to watch an viewer created ad message for little caesars who proudly salutes united states veterans everywhere. >> clarksville is a small town on the tennesse/kentucky boader and it is a really great place to raise a family. my name is lloyd allard i was a chief officer in the special forces, i was in the army for 23 years. i have made 1400 parachute jumps. well, my experience in the military was varied. i spent a lot of time in iraq, a lot of time in kuwait. i did two tours in iraq and i decided it was time to do something different with my life. i saw little caesars as a way to give something back to my family. the little caesars veterans program provides financial support and equipment when you open your store. the little caesars veterans program give me a sense of ownership and pride in my business because i am the owner

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>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: can we avoid the fiscal cliff? yeah. not unless john boehner and eric cantor and paul ryan are willing to compromise and you know, you can add mitch mcconnell to that list as well. good morning everybody. here we go on this tuesday november 27th. great to see you today. good morning, good morning. welcome to the "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capital. booming out to you all the way across this great land of ours

on current tv and on your local progressive talk radio station. good to have you with us today. don't forget we'll not only bring you up to date on the big stories of the day, the news of the day wherever it is happening but also give you a chance to comment and tell us what it means to you and your family. 1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. or you can join us also of course on twitter at bpshow. on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. in the chat room, you got all kinds of people, followers of the "full court press" across the land talking about the issues all during the show. you debate them among yourselves as we were talking about them on the air. go to current.com. click on the chat room and you're in with the team here. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey hey. >> good morning. >> bill: yes sirs. phil backert has the phones. cyprian bowlding, our excellent videographer on the job as always. bringing the pictures to you.

>> little flirtatious wink there to the camera this morning. hey, ladies. >> he has to get creative because we don't allow him to speak. so he has to get creative to the camera. >> yeah. >> bill: a little sign. >> cyprian, why don't you flash that big wedding wing of yours buddy. there it is! >> bill: picking on cyprian. >> he can't fight back. it is too easy. >> bill: indeed. things are getting tough. republicans are really trying to make a big issue of this benghazi deal, you know. i didn't realize because i was out of town last week. i didn't get to -- my favorite event of the year as a white house reporter is the annual pardon of the thanksgiving turkey. attended every one except this year. we were in turkey for turkey. but jay leno pointed out how tough it was this year even for the thanksgiving turkey. >> been a rough week for the white house turkey. as you know, president obama

pardoned the white house turkey last week. well now republicans want to know what it knows about benghazi. >> bill: everybody is being trotted out to talk about benghazi. well, you know, leno tries. >> maybe we can get to the bottom of tryptophan ghazi. i'll just show myself out. >> bill: good-bye. >> sorry. >> bill: well, we're very excited that this hour -- [ laughter ] i don't even want to comment on that. we're very excited that brad woodhouse, communications director for the dnc is going to be in studio with us in this hour. brad woodhouse who won a bet but still pretended like he was willing to go along with having -- as if he had lost a bet and shaved his head. on national television. two days ago, sunday morning. we'll see how brad is suffering this humiliation.

he may decide he likes that new look. >> might keep it. stan collender or james route. >> bill: we ought to make a list of all of the famous dome heads, right? all right. and big flap now over whether or not there will be any reform to the filibuster. wait until you hear what mitch mcconnell said about it yesterday. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> on this tuesday, other headlines making news. as much as dunkin' donuts may think it brews the best coffee in america the chain cannot trademark that phrase. a bid to use the phrase best coffee in america exclusively in its marketing campaigns was rejected by the u.s. patent and trademark office. they say it is too generic to warrant that trademark. >> bill: you know, i don't know because i'm not a coffee drinker but a lot of friends of mine have told me they think dunkin' donuts has the best coffee. >> i'm one of those.

i drink it all the time. >> it is good coffee. it is not the best coffee i've ever had. >> bill: is it better than starbucks? >> i think it is better than starbucks. i don't like starbucks plain coffee. if i go to starbucks i'm usually getting a latte or something. but you can't trademark that. that i know of. >> too generic. they tried and failed. jenna bush hager is adding a new job as a writer to her repertoire. the daughter of the former president bush and current today show correspondent is joining "southern living" magazine to write a monthly column and write for the online blog. she wants to reach out to southern women in ways she can't in her tv gig especially with cooking and entertaining. >> bill: good luck to her. >> we wish her as much success in that career as she had in her tv career. >> and a new study done by shippensburg texas finds that female porn stars are more religious and have a higher self-esteem than other women. >> of course they're more religious.

they've mastered the missionary position. >> they've concluded these women -- >> bill: all right. >> they concluded that these women do not fit the damaged goods hypothesis and have great social support and positive feelings more so than regular nonpornographic. >> bill: the study reports they're more likely to be bisexual. whatever. is it their come to jesus moment? >> so to speak? >> bill: oh, man. all right. enough of porn stars. how about the filibuster. that's pornography of a different type. you know, look. no doubt about it. this congress is broken. it's gotta be fixed, all right? this process doesn't work anymore. they can't get anything done. they haven't gotten anything done. one of the big reasons they haven't gotten anything done is because of this filibuster. we know that the filibuster used to be used rarely. it is there. it was there for those exceptional cases where members

of one party felt so strongly about one piece of legislation that they would use the ultimate nuclear weapon, if you will, right, and block any attempt -- block a measure from coming to a vote by just stalling. and the way they did it was they took the microphone and they just kept talking. and as long as they were talking and had the privilege of the floor, nobody could bring any other business up. and it got to the point where -- and this is the way it should be, if you use it at all. they would actually roll in cots and members would have to -- like they would take a nap while this -- whoever it was was up to the microphone, still speaking and it could go on for hours and hours and hours. in fact, the record, peter the record filibuster was strom strom thurmond in 1957, the civil rights act.

as a dixiecrat, you know. he was totally opposed to it. was afraid it might happen. he went up to the well in the senate and he spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes at which point he had to pea so bad he had to stop. and run for the nearest restroom. that was the endurance test, right? that's what a filibuster really was. it has come from that to today the republicans -- and democrats use the filibuster but rarely, still, when they were in power there. now republicans under mitch mcconnell have used it and do use it for every single vote. not only to block the votes but to block a measure from being taken up for a vote. even on procedural matters. and the numbers are staggering. as dick durbin pointed out recently when lyndon johnson

was majority leader of the senate democratic majority leader of the senate. for six years, there was one filibuster. one filibuster. the last six years under republican leadership, there have been 380 filibusters in the senate. they filibuster everything including -- one of the most outrageous examples, republicans in the senate filibustered the james -- september 11th health and compensation act which would have provided healthcare for the heroes the first responders of september 11th. republicans filibustered that and prevented it from coming to a vote in the senate. so it doesn't matter good or bad if the democrat was for it, republicans filibustered it. and they did so by -- it was sort of like a -- a virtual filibuster. it is no longer the day when

they bring in the cots and they make them actually speak. they just threaten to filibuster and that's all they have to do and it is just as effective and -- effectively blocks a measure at all. from again even being considered for a vote. so for a long time and we've talked about it here and we've had several senators on, particularly led by senator tom harkin from iowa saying we've got to change the rules. the other senators, the good senator from colorado whose name i'm blanking on right now. tom udall. and the last time we had a new congress, tom udall and tom harkin were both demanding reform or suggesting reform. proposing reform. and that's -- and it didn't happen. but this is a key time to do it. we're coming up to it right now because when you form a new

congress you don't need 2/3 vote to change the rules. you only need 51 votes to change the rules and democrats will have 55 votes so now is the opportune time and the best time to really have some either get rid of the filibuster or to reform it. that's likely to happen. it's got to happen if we're going to get anything done and out of this congress and yet mitch mcconnell got to the floor, went on the floor yesterday and said oh, my god! look what the democrats are trying to do. they're trying to destroy the united states senate. >> for the sake of this institution and the future of the country i implore members on both sides to oppose this naked power grab strenuously and loudly. it may be the most important thing you ever do.

>> bill: imagine. naked power grab. the neighbored power grab is by the minority. they're the ones who have been exercising the naked power grab through the filibuster, preventing anything from getting done. and for mitch mcconnell to say this -- this is going to destroy the institution, no, this will save the institution. the way to save the institution and to do what the american people want which is to solve problems pass legislation. come up with solutions rather than just be obstructionists which is all the republicans have done, abusing the filibuster. harry reid yesterday went right back after mitch mcconnell and said first of all nobody's trying to get rid of the filibuster. >> we had a so-called gentleman's agreement that the motion to proceed would be filibustered rarely. virtually every time a bill came

up. that simply didn't work. i'm not proposing we get rid of filibuster. just that we do away with filibusters on motions to proceed. period. >> first mistake is he made a gentleman's agreement with mitch mcconnell. you will always lose that. >> bill: that's like the gentlemen's agreement that president obama made with john boehner. don't you think it is time to get rid of the filibuster? i think democrats have to stand strong on this. again, i would say get rid of the filibuster altogether but at least limit it. and instead, for example, tom harkin suggested that instead of needing 60 votes okay, you have 60. let's say on the first vote. you try it again and this time, you only need 57. and it fails so then the next time you only need like maybe 55 or 53. you keep bringing it down. or to get rid of it on the motion to proceed and harry -- again, moving on. the leader made the point that what we're looking for is to

come up with a process that works. >> my friend, the republican leader, claims changing the rules can make the senate more efficient is an assault on minority rights. in fact, it's response to abuse by the fill filibuster by senate republicans. he keeps talking about getting a filibuster. i or no one on the democratic side has proposed getting rid of the filibuster. we have proposed making this place more efficient. >> bill: this is the time. if there is ever a time. if there is ever a moment, it is now. to fix or get rid of the filibuster. don't you think? 1-866-55-press. how dare mitch mcconnell say oh anybody who wants to change the filibuster in any way, it is the worst thing they could possibly do to the united states senate. no, it is the best and the most important thing they could do to get the people's work done in this country. filibuster. get rid of it. 1-866-55-press. let's talk about it. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: all right. 25 minutes after the hour. this is your male model. bill press here today on this tuesday, november 27. modeling again one of my wife carol's beautiful hand-woven scarves. this is one of my favorites. i love these colors together. if you want to check it out make the perfect holiday gift. go to our web site, billpressshow.com and follow the link to carol's scarves and then take it from there. she'll be glad to hear from you. peter, we were talking about the filibuster by the way. and the big flap now mitch

mcconnell saying this is terrible terrible. how dare you think about fixing the filibuster. if democrats don't do it, they deserve not to get anything done in the next congress. what else is going on? >> i know you've heard of the rock singer andrew w. k. this is what he sounds like. ♪ that's andrew w. k. hard rocker, loud. >> bill: i listened to him all the way to turkey and back. >> very aggressive singer. the state department announced they were sending him to bahrain next month to promote "partying and world peace." >> bill: you're kidding. >> i'm not kidding. they were going to send him over there. they put the brakes on it yesterday. they announced that they were canceling the trip. victorian newland from the state department had to come out and say we're sorry. we originally approved this. senior management got ahold of it. they thought better of the idea and said no go.

he's very upset about it. they'll not get a chance to see american rocker andrew w. k. in bahrain. >> bill: bahrain's loss. >> we're stuck with him. >> bill: on the filibuster, brian calling from chicago. what do you say? good morning. >> caller: how you doin'? >> bill: all right. good to hear from you. what's your point? >> caller: you know, the republicans, mitch mcconnell eric cantor and the rest of these guys, they seem like a bunch of bag babies, once they don't get their way they take the ball and go home. >> bill: exactly. they don't care what's good for the country right now, worried about the political aspirations. what the people should do is vote out guys like mitch mcconnell, eric cantor, john boehner. these guys, they don't care what happens to this country. >> bill: you know what, brian? the rule ought to be the majority rules right? got 51 votes.

got 51 votes fine, you win. you don't need 60 in a democratic process. you need just the majority which is 51. and just -- stick to that. it would solve all problems. thanks brian. susanna calling from rhinelander, wisconsin. hi susanna. >> caller: i like john boehner he's the only republican i like. i don't like the other ones. i think he has one opportunity to throw his dumb tea party funds under the bus. he could be really popular. i like when he says things like hey, i've been in cleveland, you know. at my dad's bar washing the floors. i like hearing that. if he could really mean that and protect the people that are still mopping the bars, you know -- >> bill: you're right. but that's -- i don't think he's a bad man at all. i like john boehner too. but you know, it is a big if. it is a big if for him to stand up to the tea party and to stand up to eric cantor. he has not done it so far. this is the time for john

boehner to show leadership. don't hold your breath. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." before the cold & flu season help prevent with lysol. because when you have 10 times more protection with each hand wash... and kill 99.9% of germs around the house with each spray... those healthy habits start to add up. this season, a good offense is the best defense and lysol has your family covered because that's our mission for health.

>> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: send that guy to bahrain. 33 minutes after the hour now on the "full court press." tuesday, november 27th. what do you say? maybe you heard about the big bet. the big bet between the communications director with the democratic national committee brad woodhouse and the communications director for the republican national committee who shall remain unnamed because i forget -- >> sean spicer. >> bill: big bet was loser in

the election would shave his head. well, the republican lost but guess what. democrat decided well, i'll shave my head, too because i'm such a good guy. >> did i. it was a great opportunity. look, sean is an adversary in partisan politics but he's otherwise a good guy. he is a charitable guy. so we decided that we could both -- that we would both shave our heads. i would throw my head into the cause. we did it for a good cause. >> bill: all right. >> oh. >> i must say -- you know -- [ applause ] i didn't know the allegiance of bald people until i shaved my head. everybody came up and they were -- they were like go get 'em, man. i said this is growing back. >> you're not going to keep it. >> bill: it is not a bad look. we had stan collender in the last hour, who is totally bald.

dan is on his way. >> hey! >> look at that big bald spot. >> i got the clippers right down the street. >> we can finish it. >> i love my bald head. >> bill: james carvel. >> there are many distinguished bald men. this is actually a great opportunity to take two partisan animals and do something good. there is an organization called the st. baldrick's foundation based in california but does work all around the country to raise money for research and to childhood cancers. they solved this bet on twitter and "national journal" and they said why don't you shave your head for children with cancer. they raised all of their money through shaving people's heads. they've taken -- they've taken the walkathon concept. >> bill: st. baldrick, the patron saint of bald. >> st. baldrick's.org, go there

and learn their story. that's all they do is they raise money for research into childhood cancers and they do it by shaving people's heads. normal people will set up a fund-raising page and get people to donate to it. celebrities like yourself -- >> bill: forget it. >> hold on to it while you got it. >> bill: bald woodhouse is our guest here for this part -- i haven't seen you since november 6th in studio. congratulations. >> appreciate it. >> bill: you were very much a part of this extraordinary campaign. and so what do you think made the difference in the end? you know, that last week, republicans are saying oh, man look at the crowd we're getting. we got this in the bag. we're going to go to pennsylvania. we've got time to burn. they were just -- blowing smoke, weren't they? >> one thing i think -- the key thing i think made the difference is the president. you can never end a campaign and not give credit to the candidate.

he is a particularly historic and special -- >> bill: and gifted -- >> and gifted candidate. let me say something else about the president. and how important he is. his philosophy toward campaigns is born of you know, of his philosophy toward life. this is someone who could have done like mitt romney. could have gone on to wall street and made millions and never looked back. he went to chicago, he was a community organizer. he learned the importance of hitting the pavement. of going door-to-door. of organizing people for a cause. and i think -- you know, if you look at campaign tactics our organization the ability for us to be able to knock on every door we needed to but to do it strategically, we weren't knocking on doors of people we knew who were going to vote against it. we weren't knocking on doors of people we knew 100% were with us unless we could get them to volunteer. to have that organization, the

republicans didn't have anything like that. they were bragging last few weeks of the campaign about how they had $80 million in the bank. i went to twitter. what the hell are you doing with $80 million in the bank. we had spent that money. the dnc is in debt. we had spent that money on propping up the biggest ground game and most sophisticated ground game in the history of american politics. >> bill: talked to a friend of mine republican strategist who has run many campaigns i said so in the end you know the obama ground campaign was really far superior to the romney ground campaign, wasn't it? he said what romney ground campaign? he said it did not exist. >> that's right. look, that's one of the smartest decisions the president ever made. was not letting that organization -- after he won in 2008. you know they brought great decision they brought ofa its assets, the volunteers, the

twitter followers into the dnc. we used it to pass healthcare reform. we used it for other important agenda items for the president. we used it for the midterms. didn't work out so well. we had a wave coming against us. but then it was limber and ready to go for the election. and you know what? i think it will be -- >> bill: are you going to keep it alive for 2014? >> we're going to keep it alive. what form it is going to be is still being discussed. going to keep it alive to help the president, to help him on the fiscal cliff. to help him on his agenda items next year. immigration reform and so forth. so i think it will be a huge asset. >> bill: now we -- so the president -- won the election handily. i mentioned last hour, the gap keeps growing. it is now up to 3.5%. more votes come in, the bigger the margin the president won by. he won it based on ideas. clear choice put forth before the american people. between the way president obama

said we're going to fix this economy and mitt romney -- american people chose. so why are we having this debate now over this fiscal cliff? and the republicans seem to be still spouting of the old idea to sell the romney plan. >> it really is like republicans were on some planet, you know, outside of our solar system during the election. the discussion selection couldn't be more clear. you know what mitt romney's approach to the american people through his 47% comments, the comments he's made since the election, you know, really bore out the philosophical difference between the two parties and the two candidates. we won the philosophical debate. people want a balanced approach to dealing with our debt and deficits. they will also want investments that help create jobs. they want to preserve entitlements, not tear them apart or dismantle them as republicans have proposed to do

over the years. you would think republicans weren't around for the election. i mean right now look, i think the white house really means it when they say that the president's talking to john boehner. they've had discussions. the staff are meeting. they feel like they can make good progress. you kind of look underneath at the rank and file and they're spouting the same thing that romney did on the campaign trail. the american people rejected that. >> bill: absolutely. i think it is time to move on but obviously as you point out republicans haven't gotten the message. so in the past few days, we've heard most recently, senator bob corker and then senator lindsey graham and congressman pete king and senator saxby chambliss say they're willing to consider new revenues, thereby breaking the grover norquist pledge. is grover over? >> well, i don't actually think so. i think i saw a tweet from this program earlier. the real test will be do rank and file members of the republican caucus and the house

many of which were elected by the tea party do they start to walk away from that pledge or can boehner get enough votes from them to bring a balanced approach to the floor. it is one thing for senators who don't have many of which have not had significant challenges in a long time to -- you know, to break with grover norquist. i'm not convinced that they're breaking all that much. i mean they're still talking about -- they're still talking about -- i was on a program with sean spicer yesterday, this discussion of flattening and simplifying the code. a lot of what that means is the very stuff the president said he was opposed to during the election. taking away many of the deductions and so forth that middle class benefit from. they want more revenue or they're willing to accept more revenue for the tax code. it generally means they want

middle class and lower to pay more. they're not willing to bring rates up. >> bill: but they also say we're willing to accept some increased revenue as long as we get entitlement reform which is a code word for getting rid of medicare and medicaid. >> right. >> bill: and probably social security, too if they had their way. >> i thought jay carney was good on this yesterday. there's no reason for social security to be part of this discussion. social security does not contribute to the debt or deficit. it is not part of our deficit driver. it is an issue that can be solved. look, we did see it in the '80s, some tough medicine. everybody took it but it extended the life of social security for decades. we could do that again. it shouldn't be on the table and look, as it relates to medicare, let's remember this president extended the life of medicare through the affordable care act. these people are still talking about eliminating affordable care act or putting cuts to the affordable care act on the table when the affordable care act is

helping bring the deficit down. >> bill: give it up. not to mention -- >> the election's over. the environment has changed. >> bill: thank you. i haven't heard one republican yet say they will vote to end the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest of americans. so what has changed? >> not one. >> bill: for them, not much. brad woodhouse in studio with us. communications director for the dnc. join the conversation any time at 1-866-55-press or on twitter or facebook. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today... i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and

above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today... smiles make more smiles. when the chocolate is hershey's. life is delicious.

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show."

live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: okay. 13 minutes before the top of the hour. the "full court press" this tuesday, november 27. bill press here wearing another beautiful carol press scarf. you can get yours by going to our web site, billpressshow.com and follow the link to carol press scarves. brad woodhouse is in studio. >> what a beautiful scarf! i had no idea. >> bill: you could wear this over your bald head. >> it would make it much warmer. >> bill: we'll be back to brad and your comments as well about the latest political developments here in our nation's capital. first, i want to remind you that this year, i as well as all of our good friends at current tv are working with the salvation army to help raise money for americans in need and here's how you can join our effort. visit online red kettle.org/billpress. and if you go there, you can help me fill my kettle by making

a donation. thanks for doing your part. together we can help the salvation army continue doing the most good. another good charity there brad. >> absolutely. >> bill: peter, what's going on out in the social network world? >> we're tweeting at bpshow where we're moments away from posting a photo of mr. woodhouse's bald head. we had some requests. we'll be putting that out there. one of the things you mentioned earlier in the show. you were wondering what we do. what president obama does if he's faced with extending the bush tax cuts or going over the fiscal cliff. we put that out on twitter. some comments we got one person says we go over the cliff. that's an easy one. another person says president obama should under no circumstance extend bush tax cuts for the wealthy. on the other side of the issue someone says extend the cuts. i work two jobs and a child with special needs. nine therapy sessions a week. i made $100,000 and i'm broke. another person says it is a slope, not a cliff. so slide down it. everything is going to take time. get new dems sworn in.

let republicans take the heat. we're taking your comments on that at bp show on twitter. >> bill: brad, just about 20 minutes ago, got a call from a friend of mine, member of congress democrat from california, who on his way back today and when i said we're talking about how to avoid going over the cliff and he said i'm paraphrasing basically why? have you looked at the numbers? it is a slope not a cliff and the first year is like about a 3% cut so there isn't a lot of talk that rather than caving in to republicans extending the bush tax cuts for another two years or whatever, just go over the cliff. >> you've heard that discussion. i think there's -- you know, there is the reality of the numbers. then there's how the market might react to it. and then -- how it might react to it. and all of that will determine after that who would have -- who would actually have the leverage in negotiations because we won the election and republicans

should get that through their heads but we still do have -- we don't have a filibuster-approved majority. we don't have a filibuster approved majority in the senate. we have a republican house. so you know, that's an interesting dance. i do think that if push came to shove, i don't believe the president is going to extend the bush tax cuts so if it is that choice extend them for the wealthiest americans. that woman in that tweet would obviously -- the president would extend tax relief to her but we're talking -- >> bill: up to $250,000. she would be taken care of in the president's plan but if it was that choice and i don't know this, i haven't talked to the white house about this. i would assume the president would allow this to go into next year. >> bill: let people see how bad it is and then the public may be -- you know, demand, pitchfork storming the castle. >> that's right.

>> bill: so do you expect that the president will take this case to the american people? he's got some criticism before that he could have gotten more maybe if he had used the bully pulpit more effectively rather than spending all of the time meeting with john boehner and eric cantor which proved to be a waste of time. >> he's at a small business this past weekend talking about the fiscal cliff. i don't think you can appear to small business in this environment and not be part of the discussion. he's meeting with small business owners today. i believe he'll travel some. he's going to take this case to the american people. you know not that he should really have to. he took this case to the american people. this was the entire discussion. >> bill: totally. >> was about how we balance our need for more revenue for some spending cuts but also with investments that grow the economy. and you know, i always get back to this. we've had these -- 16 years of experiments here, the clinton experiment the bush experiment,

we know what works. we know what didn't. republicans want to keep doing what didn't work. >> bill: let me ask you this. about 30 seconds here. so you won the election. now what's the dnc do? what's your next agenda? what's your next priority? >> we will -- of course, all of that is being sorted out right now. there is a decision still being made about -- we're organizing for america goes, the president's grassroots organization. it was in the dnc after the election that may or may not come back to the dnc. the dnc will have a role in helping republicans get the message that the american people delivered on election day. so we'll be involved in helping the president on the fiscal cliff, helping the president on his agenda items and then, of course, we have -- you know, we have races all the time in this country. there's governors races obviously. two high profile governor's races in the midterm. the work of the dnc never ends. >> bill: brad, by the time the midterms get here, you'll have a

full head of hair back. >> i hope it's not that long. >> bill: thanks so much, brad. brad woodhouse as always, dnc.org. follow brad on twitter at woodhouse b. that's b for bald. i'll be back with a quick parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv.

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